In addition to helping out with Bike To Work Day, my son and I volunteered to help out at one of the stations at the Mesquite charity ride. It was nice to give back, after being supported on many Richardson Wild Rides.

During the summer, we took our first family vacation in 5 years – a much needed break. This time, we went to New Orleans – close enough to drive, but far enough to feel like we went somewhere.

Once we were back much of my free time was spent actually riding and bike commuting. I even managed to get some challenging grocery rides in.

All summer long, we were able to teach a few Adult Learn To Ride classes. Those are always rewarding.

Because my city, Richardson, is such a Bike Friendly Community, I thought it would be great to hold a couple of Traffic Skills 101 classes this fall.

Traffic Skills 101 (TS101) gives cyclists the confidence they need to ride safely and legally in traffic or on the trail. Through TS101, students learn how to conduct bicycle safety checks, fix a flat, on-bike skills and crash avoidance techniques. We recommended this class for adults and children above age fourteen. The curriculum is fast-paced, and prepares cyclists for a full understanding of cycling on Richardson streets.

Last weekend I got to help teach another Traffic Skill 101 class, at the Allen Community Outreach center, in Allen, Texas. It was a good group of about a dozen students, mixed in experience and skill levels. We also had some graduates of the course, visit and observe, in preparation to taking their own LCI class next month.

I hope to see more of these classes open up this year and get more cyclists on the right track to becoming better and safer riders. It’s also great that students are striving to become instructors. Below, are some pics from the class. You can also find the entire set here.

Traffic Skills 101 (TS101) gives cyclists the confidence they need to ride safely and legally in traffic or on the trail. Through TS101, students learn how to conduct bicycle safety checks, fix a flat, on-bike skills and crash avoidance techniques. We recommended this class for adults and children above age fourteen.

When: Sunday, Nov 24 (that’s this weekend!!)Time: 7:50am – 3:00pmWhere: Allen Community Outreach
801 E. Main Street, Allen, TX 75002Cost: Cost:$ 20.00 for BikeDFW members
$ 50.00 for others. (If you pay the $ 50.00, you will get a free one (1) year membership in BikeDFW)
Information and registration:CLICK HERE

OR

When: Sunday, Dec 8Time: 7:50am – 3:00pmWhere: Allen Community Outreach
801 E. Main Street, Allen, TX 75002Cost: Cost:$ 20.00 for BikeDFW members
$ 50.00 for others. (If you pay the $ 50.00, you will get a free one (1) year membership in BikeDFW)
Information and registration:CLICK HERE

What to bring:
– Tuition
– Bike in good working condition
– Helmet
– Lunch money

PLEASE NOTE:
The classroom portion is done online at www.bikeed.org prior to the actual class and you should expect to spend 1.5 – 2 hours doing this. When you register PLEASE use the DALLAS area as your location in the pull down menu.

Last Saturday was a pretty big day for me. I got to help teach a Traffic Skills 101 class for the first time. Co-instructing with me, was fellow League of American BicyclistsLCI graduate, Jenny. As recent graduates, we both have to co-instruct two classes before we can teach on our own. We were there to assist head instructor-extrodinare Mike and veteran instructor Brad, with 11 students in Garland.

Preparation:
As part of our instructor training, Jenny and I had to scope out locations for our parking lot drills, as well as map out the road course. We took a field trip to the area and decided that a local DART parking lot would work best for the parking lot drills. While out there, we decided to drive the road course that Jenny had plotted using Google maps – addressing any potential issues and altering the course as needed. We wanted to get a wide selection of roads to give us the opportunity to teach the students about a variety of road conditions. Also, since the road course was new to both of us, we returned to ride it the weekend before the class – just to make sure.

Registration:
On the day of the class, Jenny and I carpooled. With bikes balanced on the bike rack, we rolled into the parking lot of local bike shop, Don Johle’s Bike World. My car was full of gear, forms, certificates and – most important – breakfast. The students were already gathering in front of the shop, ready to learn. So, after getting everybody introduced, registered, fed and ABC Quick Checked, we all rode to the DART parking lot to start the parking lot drills.

Parking Lot Drills:Since Jenny and I were co-teaching our first class, Mike let us take the lead on giving instructions. Jenny and I tag-teamed this task, each helping the other fill in the gaps of information that the other might have missed. Once each drill was discussed and demonstrated, the group would split into two for practice runs. I worked with Mike and Jenny worked with Brad – who happened to be one of our TS101 instructors, when we took the class.

This group of students did an amazing job with the parking lot drills, which made the instructor’s job easy.

Road Course:
After lunch at Taco Cabana, it was time to do the road portion of the course. This can be taught a few different ways, as long as you are exposing your students to a variety of road conditions that they will encounter when they are riding on their own. We opted to ride as one group, while giving the students a few small exercises of riding solo. This gave them the opportunity to individually read, process and execute their routes using the information learned with the online course, as well as what we taught them with the parking lot drills.

Again, this group of students were outstanding and did an exceptional job at completing this portion of the class.

When finished with the road course, the group returned to the bike shop, where the instructors were able to evaluate each student. Each scored very well and earned their Traffic Skills 101 Certificate.

Both Jenny and I appreciated the chance to co-instruct with great teachers, as well as this group of fantastic students. We couldn’t have ask for a better class to be our first. We hope that as we teach more of these classes, we get more refined and are better prepared to confidently teach on our own.

As part of my efforts to make my community a safer place for cycling, I decided to become a League Cycling Instructor, last year. Now that I’ve completed the course, I must co-teach, at least twice, before I can teach my own classes. This weekend will be my first opportunity to do that.

Quite frankly, although I’ll be working with an amazing team, I’m slightly nervous about this — a little because this is my first time, a little because I fear that I might forget something, a little because I might mess up a parking lot drill, and a lot because I want to make sure our students leave with more knowledge, skills and confidence to be safer on the road.

Hopefully, as I teach more, I will become more confident in doing this. Hopefully, we can inspire more students to become teachers, and help cycling become safer for everybody.

I meant to post these last week, but I was busy with prepping for my own biking course (more to come on that). A couple of Sundays ago, we had our first – in quite some time – Bike LeagueTraffic Skill 101 class in Richardson, Texas. The class was lead by League Cycling Instructors Mike Freiberger, Warren Casteel and Renee Jordan.

They had a great group of students with a broad range of riding experience. Their bicycles ranged from super light road bikes to incredibly long and heavy utility bikes. I was really impressed with how well all of the cyclist handle their bikes – even the big ones – through the parking lot drills. Scroll down to see a video of how well a long frame bike handles the really tight Avoidance Weave.

Here are some pics from the parking lot drills. Click here to see the rest.